Parents weigh starting new private school in Gaston

A new private school could be on the horizon if enough parents show enough interest. The Westminster Classical Project established an online survey three weeks ago.

Wade Allen

A new private school could be on the horizon if enough parents show enough interest. The Westminster Classical Project established an online survey three weeks ago.

It polls parents, potential teachers, and sponsors to see if they’re interested in being part of a new Christian classical school in Gaston County. Seven people serve on the project’s steering committee, including Steve Routszong, of Gastonia. He works in health care and his three children attend home school.

He said more than 50 families have taken the online survey to express an interest in the Westminster Classical Project. Committee members have talked about keeping the survey available until January or February, but it could be available longer. The school remains in the investigative stages, as the committee studies whether enough students would attend if it came to fruition.

Traveling to school: Routszong said survey participants are asked how far they’d be willing to travel. It’s possible that the potential school would welcome students from Gaston, Lincoln, and Cleveland counties, and York County, S.C. If the school was established, it could follow a model in which students are enrolled in classes two or three days a week. Routszong said it would be determined later whether to hold classes in the summer months.

Biblical principals would be incorporated into the curriculum, said steering committee member Mark Miele of Gastonia. He works as a physical therapist and has two daughters who attend home school. When the term “classical education” comes to mind, Miele said some think about studying the Greeks, Romans and classic works of education.

He said some of that would be worked into the curriculum, such as in literary classes. But that’s a small part of the plan. Miele said teachers would use a classical approach that would teach grammar to elementary school students. Middle school students would learn the logic of subjects, and high school students would continue to build those skills while learning rhetoric.

Classes would be taught in theology, history, literature, math, science, and languages, such as Latin, Routszong said. “Our purpose is to develop intelligent thinkers that will think God’s thoughts and have the wisdom and communication skills to change the next generation,” he said.